We're at the top of the first hill on this roller coaster.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"So, you're here on vacation?" Steven said while stuffing his mouth full of fry bits. The trio made their way down the boardwalk a bit and took a seat on a set of wooden stairs that led to the soft white sand on the beach.

"Err, yes. Just for a week or so, I needed to get away." The boy noted the deflection; usually, someone would give more detail about why they were on vacation or how and why they ended up in the spot they were visiting. He was young, not stupid.

He regarded the older woman for a moment; something seemed to be weighing her down. Some invisible burden that brought down Blue's entire being. She wasn't old per se, she looked like she could be younger than his dad in all actuality.

But there were dark circles under her icy colored eyes, and her enervated face was framed by silvery-white hair. Even in the full light of the afternoon sun, she looked wan. The name fit, she seemed to embody the color blue.

"Well, you picked the right week for it! There's tons to do the last couple weeks off before school starts." The woman arched an eyebrow and gave him a gentle smile. It was nice to see some of the heaviness in her lifting just a little.

"Oh, where should I start then?" Blue took a sip from her soda as she intently listened to the boy. She appreciated not being drenched by Ronaldo so much she purchased Steven and Connie's lunch and drinks.

"There's the fireworks this weekend!" Connie said, excitedly. Every other weekend until Labor Day, there were fireworks on the beach. (Friday and Saturday.) The last blow out before the fall season.

"Yeah, then there's all the stores on the boardwalk and Funland over by the docks. There's also a World War II fort up the coast." Steven was sitting next to Blue on the top step. He motioned for her to lean in a little closer, Connie doing the same from the opposite side.

"There's underground wrestling matches at the old warehouse." The boy finished in a hoarse whisper. Blue raised her eyebrows in amusement.

"Oh, that's right! The Good-Looking Gang is going up against the Wolves of Wallstreet this Friday!" The girl said, crumpling up her now empty bag of fries.

"Connie, that's tomorrow, we have to go! I can get dad to take us." Steven said, wide-eyed.

"I can't, I have dinner at my cousin's house." The girl sighed and shook her head slightly.

"Awwww…" Steven huffed and crossed his arms. Blue actually chuckled at the exaggerated expression; her face lighting up significantly.

"So, there's far more to do here than at first glance. Alright." The woman sat up straight and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"Uh, I could show you around a little on if you want?" Steven couldn't put his finger on it, but Blue seemed so sad to him. Maybe he could help, he had a real talent for reading people. He could get them to open up and listen if need be. Blue looked like she needed someone like that, a friend.

"I-err," She looked away for a moment, the same weight from before seemed to be crushing her now. The boy noticed her taking a deep breath, then letting it out.

"I'd like that, actually." The older woman finally said, nodding.

"Okay, it's a date then!" The boy grinned at Blue, who smiled in turn. It was undeniable that smiling wasn't something she did often…

"I'll meet you here at noon. I mean, if that's cool with you?" Steven said, placing a hand on Blue's forearm.

"It is." She patted the boy's hand resting on her arm.

"Steven! We're going to be late if we don't hurry!" Connie said, looking at her phone.

"Oh, man!" The young man jumped up and hopped down the wooden steps.

"I'll see you tomorrow Blue! We gotta go before we get in trouble." Steven waved as he ran.

"Thank you for lunch, ma'am!" Connie said as she bolted after Steven.

Blue stood as she waved at the children, "It was… my pleasure..."

… … … … … … … … …

She opened the door to her room (which had been serviced while she was out) and put the "Do Not Disturb" sign up. Blue then closed and bolted the door shut. She rested her head against the smooth brown wood for a moment as she gathered her thoughts.

What was she doing? Using a young boy, a minor, for gathering information. As a general rule, she didn't involve anyone under the age of 16. Steven was maybe all of 13?

She knew the answer to the question, she didn't want to admit it. The boy reminded her of Carissa… So much so that she couldn't help herself. It was almost perverse.

Blue threw her bag down violently next to the door and gathered her hooded sweatshirt around her. She looked over at her own laptop, she needed to file a status update on her progress. The boy would need to be included in the report.

She situated herself at the office desk and connected to the Authority's core network. It took all of 15 minutes to tack out the document. The next steps were to find the location of the incident; Blue would assign Aquamarine to do that first thing in the morning. Then Blue would see what information she could find with the assistance of Steven Universe.

The colonel had the mouse cursor hovering over the send button… This felt wrong. She saved the report instead and terminated the encrypted connection to the Authority's network. Google would be her partner in crime tonight.

In the search bar on the pleasantly sterile screen, she typed in the boy's name: Steven Universe. The search didn't hit on the boy's name but his father's: Greg Universe. Multiple articles from the mid 90's all the way up to the 2000's showed the full life cycle to the man's musical career. (Albeit brief.)

Blue skimmed through a couple articles; she even remembered hearing some of his music on the radio from time to time. The latest article dated 2 years ago almost to the day was from Rolling Stones; "Where Are They Now?"

Loud guitars and even louder clothes. Big vocals and dreadlocks. There's no denying that the '90s rocked. But what are the gods of flannel, alternative, and grunge metal doing today? Let's find out ... starting with Mr. Universe.

There's no doubt that everyone remembers the single "Let Me Drive My Van into Your Heart" from Mr. Universe didn't quite fit the grunge-alternative genre of the time. But it hit the number one spot on the charts, all the same, earning him a gold record. But soon after, Mr. Universe dropped off the music scene altogether.

These days Greg Universe has settled down in Beach City, owning a successful car wash and taking care of this his 10 year-old son, Steven Universe.

A pleasant enough article that gave a bit more insight; Steven was just 12 years of age. Blue felt a guilty knot tightening in her stomach.

She shouldn't involve the boy at all. But she had to find out what happened to her daughter and find White Pearl. Right now, Steven could help if only by proxy. That, and he reminded her of…

A hot wave of sorrow and self-loathing washed over Blue as she rested her head in her hands. She should call White Diamond right now and say she couldn't do this; she was emotionally compromised.

She glanced over to her phone, and something on the computer screen caught her eye. "Vehicle vs. Pedestrian Crash in Beach City."

Why did this come up in the search? The colonel followed the link to the Delmarva Chronicle.

A child suffered minor injuries after being struck by a vehicle Sunday evening.

The Sheriff's Office says they investigated a vehicle vs. pedestrian crash with injuries around 5:37 p.m.

According to a report, the sheriff's office says a 62 year-old man was driving when he struck a 12 year-old Beach City boy who was running across Thayer St.

The Beach City boy, Steven Universe, suffered minor injuries and was released from the local hospital the same night.

The operator of the vehicle was not injured, and the sheriff's office did not announce any citations in the crash.

Local Mayor Bill Dewey made the following statement: "It's a busy time a year, and everyone's safety is a top priority! We'll all have to be a little bit more diligent."

Blue gasped when she saw the vehicle in question. It was utterly mangled! This was a full-sized pick-up truck, and it was totaled, there was no doubt in her mind. All this wreckage from one 12 year-old boy?

Steven should not have been able to walk away from that accident. He should be in far worse shape, if not…

The colonel narrowed her eyes, thinking. First the strange video at the docks and now this car accident. It could be coincidence; stranger things have happened.

Blue's instincts as an investigator were saying otherwise. She may have inadvertently stumbled onto something.

… … … … … … … … …

The older woman sat on one of the many benches available on the boardwalk, intent on following up on her side of the investigation. The colonel looked at her phone; it was just past noon. She sighed and tossed the phone into her bag.

Before she left the hotel, she had tasked Aquamarine with casing the docks. It was where the video on Keep Beach City Weird was captured. It made sense to at least go and look over there and maybe ask one or two questions if possible.

She uncrossed her legs and smoothed out her khaki capris and adjusted the dark blue polo she was wearing. This was a long shot, following this boy around town, but she was so damn sure there was something to this.

Maybe she just wanted there to be a connection…

"Heya, Blue!" Steven was literally bounding down the boardwalk, his face flushed from running. He was wearing the same outfit as yesterday only now he had a backpack with him.

He stopped directly in front of Blue and leaned over, resting one hand on his knee while holding out a single finger as he caught his breath.

"Sorry I'm late, I had to make sure it was okay for me to be out." The boy finally said.

"It's no bother Steven, I imagine your parents are a little skittish after what happened earlier this week. I trust you're feeling better?" Blue cocked her head and scrutinized the bandage over Steven's left eye.

She was curious, dreadfully so. But also, a little concerned; the boy had remarkable fortitude to be up and about. He undoubtedly was still recovering from a concussion.

"Oh, you know about that?" He blushed and gave the older woman a sheepish look.

"It was in one of the local papers. I saw the wreck; you are veryfortunate." She scrutinized the boy with a gentle look. Blue was having such a hard time wrapping her head around the fact that Steven was up and about.

"I'm fine, really Blue. I was really lucky. Now I'm here with you!" It was apparent Steven didn't want Blue to fuss over him.

"So, I was thinking we could start on this side of the boardwalk and work our way down? Unless you had a specific spot, you wanted to go to first?" He was a sweet and funny boy like… No, don't go there.

"My boy, I've all day to spend with you. Give me the grand tour." She smiled at him as she stood and picked up her own bag.

"Alright, beach summer fun buddies! Com'on, this way!" Steven ran down the way, motioning for Blue to follow. She just now noticed his backpack was a cheeseburger; how was this boy so cute?

… … … … … … … … …

It had been a great day. The first day in many, many, many years she'd actually enjoyed. The forest, the park, the boardwalk. They had just finished in the arcade; both of them had lost a ridiculous amount of money, but it was all in good fun.

It was now dusky out (bordering on dark), and Steven had brought out a blanket that was carefully folded in his cheeseburger backpack. He made to spread it out on top of the sand of the beach, but of course, he struggled. Blue only laughed and helped to straighten it out.

"Alright, almost time for fireworks. This is the best spot; they almost shoot up over you. Also, we got here just in time, it gets crowded." The boy plopped down and kicked off his sandals and patted the empty spot on the blanket next to him.

"We got our stuff from the Big Donut," Blue held up her coffee and sat as she removed her own shoes. Steven brought out his juice and some chaaps.

"Now the most important part… Glow bracelets! I got you one." The woman was touched, honestly. She gently took the glowing neon blue adornment and fastened it to her right wrist.

"Thank you, Steven." She murmured, looking away at the sky. A canopy of violet was starting to cover the sky with a few orange puffy clouds floating near the horizon.

Steven was an incredibly articulate and sensitive child. Blue did glean a lot of information about the town like she set out to do, but now… Her time with him was at an end, and it was painful to admit.

"Hey, Blue? You're, ah, pretty down, aren't you?" The boy was lying on the blanket with his hands behind his head, his warm brown eyes boring into Blue's.

"Picked up on that, didn't you?" She said she laid down on her side, resting her head on her left arm.

"I lost someone… A while ago. Everyone says I should be over it, but I'm really not." Blue didn't have a clue why she was telling this boy anything. But he was so easy to talk to, and even though he may not understand, he would try. That was far more than most people would do.

The boy hummed in thought, "You know when you go through tough times, you're allowed to be sad, and you're allowed to cry. But you're not allowed to give up, no matter how bad you want to."

Blue looked away sharply, tears streaming down her face. For some reason, she needed to hear that. No one had told her this since her daughter's death, and she desperately needed to hear it. Everyone said to pick up and move on, but she couldn't, and no one understood.

A 12 year-old boy she barely knew was the one to say it, the one to understand…

"You're still here, so you haven't given up, Blue. I think you're doing pretty okay." The woman looked back over at Steven. He was gazing at some distant point in the sky as a light breeze tousled his dark curls.

"You're a very insightful young man, Steven." The woman was wiping away the carnage that was on her face as she spoke.

"Ahh!" A loud jingle came from Steven's pocket. He sat up and looked apologetically at the older woman. He pulled out his phone and answered.

"Hey, I'm at the beach. I'm watching the fireworks with a friend!" The boy smiled as he looked over at Blue. She gazed back and gently brushed some unruly curls from Steven's forehead.

"Don't worry, I'll come right home when I'm done. Love ya' boo!" The boy gave an exasperated sigh.

"Your parents love you, Steven, it's a good thing." Blue assumed it was one of his parents.

"Hmm, I don't have a nuclear family. I got my dad, but my mom died when I was born." The older woman was surprised, she simply assumed that he had a family like everyone else.

"Steven, I'm so sorry…"

"Oh, it's okay, Blue! I'm lucky I have more than one guardian." He grinned.

"That just happened to be Pearl, she's super fussy, but I love her."

Blue Diamond choked on her coffee and sat up abruptly, "Hey, you okay?"

The older woman covered her mouth and held up her hand, signaling to give her a moment. Could it be her target? Could it be her Pearl…?

"Steven, it just occurred to me I hardly know anything about you. Why don't you tell me about your family?"